Handmade Japanese Razor Folding Knife with Damascus Steel Blade by KATSU

Bo: This knife is really beautiful and extremely sharp!

United States on Aug 17, 2023

isaac sanfordisaac sanford: I dropped probably 50 different knives in my shopping cart before finally deciding on this one. The full Damascus handled knife was a strong contender but I preferred the beauty of the wood. The knife I received is flawless. It is tight, clean, perfectly symmetrical and balanced. The opening mechanism is smooth and the liner lock clicks in effortlessly. This Katsu knife is the nicest knife I own.

I’ve seen questions about the Damascus. I can say almost certainly that the blade is a Japanese style San Mai construction with a high carbon steel core, clad in Damascus steel. It is a thing of beauty and comes shaving sharp.

With respect to the country of origin, people have been citing a blurb from a website Katsu-knife.com about construction in a province of China. Katsu-knife.com is a fake copycat website that takes money and does not ship knives. Katsuknife.com is the legitimate source of these Katsu knives and their customer service was very helpful, responsive and appreciative of my questions. They replied to my question about where their knives are made and said that knives were designed in Japan , materials are sourced from The United States and Japan and...

United States on Apr 02, 2022

Tim BTim B: I'm 50yo in the construction trades all my life. Carried a knife since my Grandfather gave me at the age of 7. I have all kinds of knives and they all get used, they don't sit in display cases, when they stop being useful to me I give them to someone they will be useful for. Musashi said, "Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful." I follow that advice. So when I say I use this knife, I do.

I've been using this knife as a daily on and off the last year or so but every day now for the past 6 months.
For a living I'm a maintenance director doing commercial building maintenance and repair, high end stuff. To be fair. I spend about 80% of my time behind a desk and in meetings. I'm at that age where I can get away with carrying a nice folder because when I bring out tools, I bring out big kits on wheels and have what I need. So this knife is used for what it was made for, cutting, slicing and shaving things. Something it excels at. I rarely take out my various razor and other knives unless I am cutting a lot of materials. For the small day to day I need to open this, cut that, sharpen this pencil, etc. This is the unit.

Its carried on my...

United States on Aug 20, 2020

Osiris: Appearance – Wow, this is a gorgeous knife. I got snakewood scales that are beautifully mottled and the Damascus fittings are nice. My only gripe is the ugly print with “Katsu” on the knife. I think the English should be removed and the kanji could be smaller and burnt onto the snakewood or something, it would look more classy.

Fit and Finish – I bought mine used for a discount at around $60. There is a very slight step on the handle (opposite of the side of where the kanji is) between the wood and the Damascus handle thing. The heel of the blade itself also has the edge sticking out (not a 100% flat and smooth edge) so that if you want the edge completely flat against a surface, it is not possible. But this “choil flare” as I am calling it is probably around 0.3mm so it doesn’t interfere with 99% of usage and will eventually sharpen out. Overall, these are minor and inconsequential flaws. However, I do think the finishing grit on the edge is a bit coarse. You can easily see grind lines. Definitely take it up to a 4000 grit or so if you want a more polished edge without these lines.

Locking Mechanism and Blade Action – The divot keeping the knife...

United States on Oct 30, 2019